At the 2018 ACM Awards, Kane Brown and Lauren Alaina took the audience by storm with their performance of "What Ifs," which kept everyone buzzing not only for Brown and Alaina's flawless execution of the duet, but also for an unexpectedly intimate moment that came at the end of the song, when the two stood facing each other, so close together that it looked as if they might be about to kiss.

They weren't, of course. Aside from sharing a platonic friendship that dates back to middle school (in fact, Brown credits Alaina for bringing him out of his introvert shell enough to try his hand at singing in the first place), both country stars are in happy, monogamous relationships.

Both parties found the steamy choreography awkward, and Brown says he hasn't even watched footage of their ACMs performance. In a recent interview with Taste of Countryhowever, Alaina added that while the moment may have been a little uncomfortable, she was glad that her stage partner for the occasion was her long-time buddy, Brown.

"Thank God it was Kane," she says with a laugh. "If it had been some other dude or some random guy, I might have put a halt to this. I mean, what if someone had actually kissed me live of television? It would have been a smack in the face."

Alaina explains that having supportive partners -- both her boyfriend Alex Hopkins and Brown's fiancee Katelyn Jae -- helped ease the moment's awkwardness. "I had to go to Alex and be like, 'So, just to let you know, we aren't going to kiss but it's going to look like we are ...' But he's great," she says. "Alex is so great, and Katelyn is great, too. We both have really good people supporting us."

You Can Thank Lauren Alaina for Kane Brown's Career

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